SINGAPORE -- Tiny in size but strategically vital, Singapore is eyeing big gains in electronics manufacturing even as its competitors in Southeast Asia grow by the month.

In a report released this week Sinagpore's Electronics Development Board agency set a target of $5 billion in new manufacturing investments for 2006 and is looking to double manufacturing output to $185 billion by 2018.

In 2005, the EBD said, the nation attracted about $5.2 billion worth of new fixed-asset investment commitments for manufacturing, up 2.4% over 2004. Electronics accounted for over half of these new commitments, and are expected to make up half of the 16,700 new manufacturing jobs expected.

Major investments included semiconductor wafer fabs and assembly and testing including a Micron plant expansion, a new $50-million wafer-level packaging plant by Schott Electronics, and a massive $1.2 billion, two-year commitment from STMicroelectronics.